LOVE IS A TWO WAY STREET
by ULYFERAL
Summary: Another in a series of ficlets on Feral and Jericho from my story, Feral Through the Looking Glass.


**LOVE IS A TWO WAY STREET**

_Author's Note: Another in a series of little ficlets based on my characters in Feral Through the Looking Glass. Feral intends to return a favor to his lover, Jericho._

He glanced at his watch again and gritted his teeth. He had a promise to keep but there had been one emergency after another today besides the required meetings and he'd been chained to his desk for the last few hours.

Staring at his desk filled with reports, he rubbed his face. His lover never asked anything of him and that made him feel bad. This was an important moment for Jericho and here he was bogged down with work.

Suddenly he froze, wait a minute, he was the boss here and yet he allowed his work to take precedence over his life. When he had no personal life due to his physical problem, he hadn't minded and it had become a habit but now his physical problem was cured and he had a lover **and** a life outside this office. Allowing his job to take over was no longer acceptable.

"Time to take my life back!" He said aloud. He checked his watch again. "I can make it if I hurry."

He shoved the reports needing review into a less than tidy pile, locked up the more sensitive documents then rushed to the coat rack, grabbed his coat, pulled it on, and paused outside his office long enough to tell his secretary he was gone for the afternoon, then walked swiftly toward the elevators, buttoning his coat.

As soon as he reached the lobby, he raced through the doors to his hummer parked on the street.

In minutes, he was quickly threading traffic heading for Megakat City newly constructed Museum of Modern Art. Jericho had been commissioned to design the soaring and unique center.

Today he would be receiving an award from the Architects Association for Architect of the Year Award. It was a much coveted prize and Jericho was the youngest to have ever received it.

Feral arrived at the new building only to find there was no parking. Growling under his breath, he circled the block yet again and finally, decided to use his prerogative as Chief Enforcer to park in a no parking zone.

Locking his car, he hurried to the entrance. A stage had been set up near one wall with a curtained off area. A podium was at the center but no one was there yet. He sighed in relief....he was in time. Carefully pushing his way through the crowd of high society types, news people and security, he finally managed to get close to the stage.

The guards there, preventing outsiders from getting to the back area of the stage, eyed Commander Feral in confusion and concern.

"It's alright. No emergency. I need to get back there though." Feral said lightly.

"Oh, sure. Go right ahead, Commander. Glad there's no problems. Don't need any of those omegas showing up." The senior of the two guards said in relief.

"Fortunately, it's not something they'd be interested in. Thanks." Feral told them with a small smile then quickly went up the steps and disappeared behind the curtain.

A small group of people were clustered around waiting for the event to start. Members of the Architects society, Dr. Sinian was on hand, Mayor Manx and Ms. Briggs, and over in a corner waiting patiently surrounded by his friends.....was Jericho.

Smiling to himself, he slipped in behind everyone, keeping a low profile which was difficult considering how tall he was but managed to avoid having those who knew him stop him from getting to Jericho.

His lover and his friends were facing the stage so didn't see him.

"Why isn't your lover here, Jerry?" His best friend Brian huffed.

"He's busy, you know that. It's not important for him to be here." Jericho said serenely.

"What do you mean not important?" His friend Steve squeaked angrily. "It's only the most important thing in your life!"

"I still say he isn't in love with you as much as you are with him." Brian said darkly.

Jericho sighed. "Guys, we love each other. I've tried to tell you this but you just don't seem to believe me."

"Because you've been hurt before by some asshole who said he adored you then left you, that's why." Brian huffed again.

Before the golden tom had to, yet again, defend his lover, Feral had heard enough and moved forward to wrap his arms around Jericho, depositing a kiss on his head.

"Hello, my love. So glad I was able to get here in time." He rumbled warmly.

Jericho made a sound of joy and turned in his lover's arms. "Ulysses! Oh, I'm so glad you could too." He gushed happily and kissed Ulysses firmly.

Feral sighed and returned the kiss with ardor. 'Kat's Alive! How much I care for this tom. He is soo wonderful to me and I've never been happier.' He thought joyfully. He really didn't blame Jericho's friends for being suspicious. Actually, he was grateful they were such good friends and cared for the golden tom so much. He hoped he would be able to overcome their fear that Jericho was going to get hurt from him. Only time will tell.

Suddenly, they heard Mayor Manx begin to speak. Feral released his lover, straightened Jericho's shirt, giving him another nuzzle before letting him go.

After all the speeches and a description of the purpose of this new museum, Jericho was called out. He walked gracefully across the stage to the loud cheers and clapping of the audience. He blushed and waved as he moved to the podium.

Mayor Manx, the head of the Architects Association and the new director of the museum gave short speeches then Manx handed Jericho a beautiful plaque.

Jericho gave a nervous little speech of gratitude then made a surprising addition to his thank you.

"I am so grateful to my close friends for standing by me when I needed them. My most important thank you goes to the one who recently stepped into my life and gave it new meaning. Because of him, I was able to dream up this beautiful building for all of you to enjoy. Thank you, my love. You are my inspiration and my life. This award is as much yours as mine." He said, love gleaming in his eyes as he gestured to Ulysses to come out and stand by him.

Feral blinked in shocked surprise. Jericho was declaring their love before all these people. They had kept their relationship low-key but it was obvious his lover wanted everyone to know. For just a second he hesitated. This would expose his sexual preference, but he hadn't really cared about that. What did scare him, was his enemies would know how to get to him through Jericho.

Was it worth the risk? As he stared at his lover's smiling and hopeful face, a brief look of concern beginning to flit in his eyes......Feral realized, his enemies would eventually find out sooner or later. He couldn't hide his lover under a rock and wouldn't want to.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped onto the stage and walked up to Jericho and warmly wrapped a possessive arm around his waist. Jericho's smile amped up to mega wattage and it made Ulysses feel like ten feet tall.

Flashbulbs went off and the audience roared in amazement. Those that knew him were stunned. The audience were divided, some cheered, others went silent, while still others looked a bit disapproving. Feral didn't care, Jericho was the single most important thing in his life and that's all that was important to him.


End file.
